The Coors Brewing Co. was once a relatively well-kept Colorado
secret, a large regional brewery nestled in the foothills of the Rocky
Mountain front range. Over the past decade, however, Coors has
transformed itself into a truly national brewery, with a continually
growing market share nation-wide. That transformation has been
accomplished with remarkable aplomb, as the brewery has swiftly expanded
its production and transportation capabilities to meet an ever-widening
demand.

Coors Brewing Co. now operates the largest single brewery in the
world, producing over 17 million barrels of beer in 1989. The brewery
continues to eschew pasteurization, preferring to microfilter the
product. To ensure freshness, Coors has committed itself, and its
wholesalers, to keeping the beer cold from the aging tank to the retail
shelf. The necessity for cold transportation and storage exacerbates an
already complex equation.

Transporting the volume of beer Coors produces on a timely basis is
a logistical task of daunting proportions, and requires a corporate
commitment to transportation on a grand scale. The first stage of
transportation is perhaps the most difficult, involving as it does the
transport of bulk quantities of beer over great distances. `Our
distribution pattern is different than most other breweries in the
U.S.," observes Tom Langley distribution project manager, `and most
manufacturers in the U.S. for that matter. Being in Colorado,
motor-carriers aren't viable for the East Coast, so we've made
a major commitment to rail transport."

'Super-Insulated" transportation

Trailers and railcars used to transport the product must be
`super-insulated"; that is, insulated enough to keep product from
warming quickly once it leaves the plant. The beer starts out cold, at
36 degrees Fahrenheit, and is line-loaded directly into boxcars and
truck trailers. The product is packed extremely tightly for maximum
thermal efficiency - special boxcars even feature air bladders at each
interior end that are inflated after loading for the tightest possible
fit.

"The beer is packed so it should only warm by one degree
Fahrenheit each day that it's in transit," reports manager of
corporate communications Don Shook. `We take this commitment to product
integrity seriously, and we'll actually dispatch testers to the
scene of any transportation foul-up to evaluate product for damage. We
ship it cold, the distributor stores it cold, and they ship it cold to
the retailer,"

Although the insulated trailers and railcars will keep the product
cold for a remarkably long time, speed is of the essence. At the
brewery, the dedication to this creed is tangible, as movement of the
product never ceases once it exits the packaging line. `The distribution
department has a four-hour window to move freshly packaged beer out the
door," Langley reports. `From here it goes directly to wholesalers
and to 14 re-distribution centers around the country." Every day,
80 to 100 railcars loaded with beer leave the Coors brewery in Golden,
CO. Another 100-150 truckloads follow.

Over the road

Although rail is the primary mode of transport for the finished
product, a substantial quantity goes over the highway. The beer is
carried by private contractors or by Coors subsidiary truck fleet, the
Coors Transportation Co. `Coors Transportation Co. was originally formed
to fill in the gaps in the rail network," reports Larry White,
director of Coors Transportation Co. "We supplement contract
carriers and ensure that dedicated transportation is available for
Coors."

The Coors Transportation fleet was originally created to carry beer
to the West Coast in 1971. Initially only a flexible alternative to rail
transport, the fleet metamorphosed into a common carrier with the onset
of trucking deregulation.

"When we were just serving the West Coast," White
recalls, `we would haul beer out and come back with empties." White
notes, however, that the same specifications that require insulated
cargo bodies for beer hauling make them ideal for hauling a wide range
of commodities, from produce to frozen food. "We soon were using
our backhauls to the fullest," he says.

Indeed, the Coors Transportation Company has found such a demand
for refrigerated transport that the company has allowed the laws of
economics to dictate what cargoes are chosen for Coors trucks. Under
that system, beer has gradually declined as a percentage of the
company's business, to the point that only 20 percent of the goods
hauled consists of Coors beer.

"Although we're a fully-owned subsidiary of Coors,"
White says, `we still have to bid on loads we'd like to haul just
like other contractors the company hires.

"The key to our operation is that we don't have to be a
major profit center," White says. "We are a stand-alone
business, and they'll pay us competitive rates. We have to support
ourselves, and as we grow we will have to cover that financially.
We're still seeing steady, slow growth."

Fleet expansion

That steady growth is borne out by the fleet's expansion from 30
units to a roster that now includes 144 power units and 254 trailers.
"Our growth was triggered by deregulation," White observes.
"In today's trucking environment we had to grow or we
wouldn't exist."

The backbone of the Coors Transportation fleet is made up of 107
Kenworth T600s. The Kenworths are powered by the Cummins NTC365 rated
for 365-HP at 1800 RPM. Common specs include Fuller RTX14609P nine-speed
transmissions and Eaton DS402P rear axles rated for 40,000 lbs with a
ratio of 4.11.

For 1990, the fleet has also acquired a group of Kenworth T800s.
"We liked what we've heard about the T800," says Jerry
Goodale, Coors Transportation maintenance manager, "it has been
reported to have lower cost-per-mile based on leasing company
statistics. We also noted that the accessibility of components for
maintenance was very good."

Electronic revolution

Specs for the 1990 T800s include the Cummins N14-370 governed to 1800
RPM with Cummins PT PACER electronic controls. The T800s, together with
a number of similarly-equipped Internationals and Peterbilts, are the
heralds of the electronic revolution for the Coors fleet.

According to Goodale, Coors views the electronic controls as
providing a number of benefits, not the least of which is fuel economy
through the control of RPM. Any improvement in MPG would be welcome for
Coors, since their mountainous operating area isn't particularly
conducive to fuel economy. "Our current fleet averages 5.2
MPG," he says, "and the new trucks should bring that up to a
minimum of 5.7, although some will get six."

Goodale also sees the Cummins PT PACER as an excellent compromise
engine, in that it doesn't feature full electronics. "We see
electronic engines as the wave of the future," he notes, "but
they're so new there isn't much of a service network. The
PACER isn't 100-percent electronic, which save us some money and
also gives us some reassurance. If you break down somewhere with a
100-percent electronic engine, nothing turns and nothing moves. When
it's gone it's gone, and if it happens in a small town that
can mean a lot of down-time. The way we see it, if we want to make
money, that truck can't stop. You can get the PACER started and
running without the electronics," he says, "and we're
confident it can be maintained on the road."

Another factor White cites are government emissions standards.
"Coors is trying to meet the government standard before we have
to," White says, "particularly since two of the states we run
in - California and Colorado - have the toughest emissions standards in
the country." White sees the benefits of electronic engines as
providing long-term savings possibilities. "Although it might be
cheaper in the short-term to get a less sophisticated engine," he
says, "over the long run I think the more expensive engine will
give us savings.

Temperature extremes

Trailers are Great Dane and Utility 48 ft x 102-inch reefers,
incorporating 2-1/2-inches of insulation in the sidewalls. Reefer units
include the Thermo-King SB-II and Carrier Phoenix units utilizing 502
refrigerant. "We ship beer at 40 degrees," says Goodale,
"and we use the reefer to keep it at the proper temperature. We can
handle a great many temperature extremes with those units," he
continues. "Depending on the weather, we could boil or freeze our
cargo if it came down to it."

Beyond specs and maintenance, that other key element, the driver,
receives a great deal of attention at Coors. "We've shifted
from contract drivers to our own people," White reports. "We
just found when we used contractors that we had no control over what was
happening. We wanted to have drivers working for us."

With drivers as employees, driver comfort receives a good deal of
attention, with upgraded interior packages on all vehicles, air-ride
suspension, power steering, air conditioning and AM/FM stereo.

`Creature comforts are more important these days," White says.
"Trucks are more built for the driver than they used to be. We see
it as a good driver-retention tool. No driver at Coors is behind the
wheel of anything more than three years old.

No "barn-burners"

`At the same time," White notes, "we expect more out of our
drivers. We'd rather have thinking drivers than the old
barn-burners. We pay them by the mile, with a good benefit
package."

According to White, the company has begun reaping dividends.
"We had one driver on America's Road Team," he reports,
"and one of our people was driver of the year last year."

The maintenance for the Coors Transportation fleet is currently
contracted out to several shops. "We had an internal shop until
1987," White states, "and we served as a test center for
Michelin and Cummins. At the time, however, the idea was that our fleet
was going to be absorbed into the brewery. Since they had a sizeable
shop of their own, we decided to eliminate our shop.

"In the interim," White continues, "we found that we
could hire out our maintenance cheaper than doing it ourselves.
We've seen significant cost savings, so we just can't warrant
going back to being a self-sufficient operation."

According to White, when it comes to vehicle specifications,
constant change is the only surety. "Components are much more
sophisticated these days," he says, "and we've seen
continual improvement on the durability of the trucks. It's just a
matter of staying on top of new developments, and starting testing early
enough."

Although the Coors over-the road fleet is just one facet of the
overall transportation effort at Coors, it is representative of the
company's dedicated approach to transportation. Coors has managed
to mesh road and rail transport to a remarkable degree, in an operation
that could serve as an example to other industries just beginning to
embrace the just-in-time techniques that Coors has honed to a fine art.